Word of Mouth Daily – December 5, 2011

Are You Still Questioning Facebook?

There are still some businesses that ask, “Why should I be on Facebook?” The answer is short and sweet, so we hope this helps.

Facebook, aside from being a way to interact with your most passionate fans and customers, aside from being a way to hold contests, provide coupons, push promotions, and showcase your products/services, aside from being a platform to integrate your web-produced content like your blog, photos, and other social media (i.e. Tweets), aside from being a way to announce events and manage guest lists, and aside from being a way to feature your business’ team members, joint ventures, and partners, Facebook boosts your web search visibility.

It’s that straight-forward.

Facebook is an SEO machine for your business. Of course, you have to be using it correctly. That can be done by managing your content actively, optimizing your custom textual areas, interlinking your Facebook page, and utilizing your key word list.

You don’t have to do it all yourself. Hamptons Creative Group helps businesses get the most from Facebook with our Facebook marketing service and social media bundle package. Start here and Hamptons Creative Group will make Facebook work for you.

Word of Mouth Daily – November 28, 2011

Facebook Proves Linda was Right!

Linda, our CEO and Chief Brand Alchemist, has a saying: “There are only four people in the world.” She means that we’re all connected and serve a role in each other’s lives. Linda should know. Afterall, her natural strength is making connections.

But only four people? That seems like too few.

Well, leave it to Facebook to prove Linda correct. The Facebook Data Team posted a note on Facebook last week describing the results of two studies done in conjunction with the Università degli Studi di Milano. And the conclusion? According to their findings:

We found that six degrees actually overstates the number of links between typical pairs of users: While 99.6% of all pairs of users are connected by paths with 5 degrees (6 hops), 92% are connected by only four degrees (5 hops).

Image how this works for your business. You are 4 degrees away from making any connection you need. Read the full Facebook note here.

Intrigued by the power you wield? Talk to us about it and Hamptons Creative Group will start you off on making the right connections.

Word of Mouth – October 13, 2011

San Francisco

As you read this, Linda’s in San Francisco for a spiritual marketing seminar. No, she’s not learning how to market to ghosts – although that would fit our October theme of trick or tweeting, wouldn’t it?

Rather, she’s on a spiritual marketing quest, led by the esteemed Suzanne Falter-Barns and Jeffrey Van Dyk.

These soul-guided entrepreneurs ask participants to surrender more deeply to their innate gifts, wherever they are at in their business. It’s like a spa visit for your soul!

Special thanks to Marie Guthrie for the invitation. Linda met Marie at a mastermind event a few years ago, and she has been part of the Hamptons Creative Group extended family ever since. Marie’s a Career & Life Change Strategist who brings clarity to the goals of her own clients, just like Hamptons Creative Group brings clarity to the goals of our customers.

One thing Linda’s never been afraid of is delving deep into her own marketing mission to discover how to better serve those who need our help.

But if you’re afraid to take the first step into the sometimes scary work of social media, try our free Guide to Twitter for Marketing Managers and Small Businesses. You’ll learn to apply some simple rules you already know (really, you do!) to your Twitter marketing.

Scary marketing monster #2: Silence. Do your clients shiver with delight at your magic words and messages? Or are you playing a nasty trick by saying nothing to them at all?

Scary marketing monster #3: Same house, same candy. Some marketing tools are like candy to portions of your customer base, and like poison to others. Are you up to date on the benefits and drawbacks of each of the marketing tools at your disposal? Are you afraid of a simple, quick and exciting option like Twitter?

Hamptons Creative Group is here to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid of using Twitter (or any marketing tool) for your business. And if you’d like to know how to apply the rules of Trick or Tweeting to your own marketing, there’s no better time or place than now because we’ve got a guide that shows you what to do quickly, simply and easily.

Now click here to fill in your information and your free Guide to Twitter for Marketing Managers and Small Businesses will land in your inbox like the sweetest Halloween treat of all!

If you needed any more proof that social media is here to stay, here it is. A few weeks ago, Linda and 111 of her closest friends from 45 years ago gathered at a house in Southampton for a reunion.

So what, you say? The reunion was coordinated over Facebook! The group also discovered through social media that, unbeknownst to them, two of them had been living just 5 doors apart – for 24 years!

Linda loves to say that there are only 4 people in the world, and they all know each other. That’s definitely something this reunion brought home, courtesy of Facebook. Almost everyone at the gathering brought their smart phones, iPads or other devices, and started connecting even more with each other.

Not only was it amazing to see people from way back when, but it also raised everyone’s awareness of their surroundings.

The moral of the story? It’s not too complicated to find anyone these days, including Hamptons Creative Group. In fact, we love making it easy to get to us, and get to know us. Just follow the links…

The first chilly breezes have started as fall begins this year. We see people from our window over Main Street starting to bundle up. We’re starting to bundle up, too, but not because it’s getting cool outside. In fact, we’re bundling because things are heating up!

Hamptons Creative Group will soon announce successive service bundles — groupings of individual marketing efforts that work effectively together. We’ve identified what works best, and coupled with requests from clients, these bundles will be available to everyone later this year. Hopefully that should help you shake off the cold!

How do you say it? It takes only 7 seconds for people to make 11 assumptions about you, and you may be completely serious, passionate, and confident about what you have to say, but your body language and clothing may be sending a different message. Image matters.

Need help polishing your image to match your passion? Let Hamptons Creative Group help you match the image to the passion of your brand.

James Whittall, a successful mortgage broker in the Hamptons, wanted to take his business to the next level. He needed a trusted advisor to help create suitable marketing messages. He also wanted to explore the most appropriate and effective channels for his messages. That’s where we came in.

Hamptons Creative Group, as a trusted advisor, helped James discover his unique qualities – the ones that make him stand out in the mortgage industry. Like the careful and methodical person James is, he’s created many products and services, but hasn’t fully executed their delivery through social media, email and his website.

HCG has the marketing expertise to drive all makes and models of marketing vehicles, and to teach our clients to do the same. In this buyers’ economy, it’s important to attract the right customers, whatever your industry.

As we enter the season of Goblins, Monsters, and Ghouls, Hamptons Creative Group is here to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid of using Twitter for your business. Whether you are a Twitter novice or are looking to get the most from the service, our Guide to Twitter will help you. Get your copy at no charge instantly right here.

So, what’s on the horizon? Let us know your challenges and we’ll help you make the changes toward your own success story. Click here to start now.

Linda’s headed to San Francisco in her quest to further develop tools and techniques to help clients. She’s attending a spiritual marketing conference. No, not marketing to ghosts, but marketing for heart-based and spiritual entrepreneurs! Thanks to Marie Guthrie for the invitation.

Hamptons Creative Group always looks for opportunities for joint venture partners. These partners leverage our own reach and combine with another’s network for the client’s benefit. Ask us what that means for you!

Did you see the 7 tips for marketing on a shoestring budget? You did if you read Word of Mouth. Each week, we’re keeping the conversation flowing and staying connected with the things, people, places and happenings that spark our creativity. Stay connected.Back to top

Word of Mouth – September 29, 2011

This month’s guest blogger is Sharon Wolf, Managing Director of QualiData Research, Inc. Sharon has shared so much valuable advice that it’s going to take two posts to cover it all!

Here’s Part One of her generous contribution.

Seven Tips for Marketing on a Shoestring Budget – Part 1

Getting StartedIt is a mistake to invest any time or money in marketing before you have created a strong brand image that separates your products and/or services from your competition. Your brand image combines all of these elements:

Your product or services offering – its features and benefits

The company’s unique selling proposition

The firm’s logo design and all print and online marketing materials

Customer experiences with every aspect of your product or service – from product performance, to solving customers’ problems, to billing procedures, to follow-up customer communications, etc

Marketing on a Shoestring BudgetOnce you have clearly defined and created a written description of the brand image you want customers to think of when they see your logo, marketing materials and when they visit your website, for example, you are ready to plan marketing activities.

Here are the first three low-cost but high impact ideas:

1. Write articles for a trade press and volunteer for speaking engagements at professional conferences and seminars. These activities position you and your company or firm as experts and leaders in your profession or industry. The only cost is the time you’ll need to invest in preparing articles and conference presentations. If you publish articles, post them for downloading on your website, send them to clients and prospects and also post these publications on your business’ Facebook page. (see #3)

2. Review all of your marketing materials to be sure that they all communicate a consistent and strong brand image for your company. Invite a graphic designer to evaluate your existing logo, business cards, website, brochures and all other marketing materials against your brand positioning statement. Under the guidance of a professional graphic designer, revise and update marketing materials and graphics, as needed. For advice about graphic designers, contact Hampton Creative Group’s Mission Controller Matthew Iscoe.

This is the only step of the seven steps described here that is likely to involve a financial investment. This investment, however, is critical to the updating of your brand image and is one that typically offers a great deal of value-added to your marketing efforts.

3. Consider setting-up a business Facebook page so that you can invite your customers and important prospects to become “friends” of your company. One caveat – don’t waste your time setting up a Facebook page unless you have the time and people resources to post useful content on a consistent basis or work with a company that can do it for you.

Meaningful Facebook content can include postings of such information as:

The goal of a Facebook presence is to keep your customers and prospects involved with your brand and your company – it’s a relationship-building and relationship maintenance strategy. The same rules for meaningful content apply to the use of Twitter for brand-building.

Look for Part Two of Sharon’s Tips for Marketing on a Shoestring Budget in next month’s Word Of Mouth Guest Blog post.

Sharon Wolf, M.A., M.S. is a brand and product innovation consultant at QualiData Research Inc., a consultancy that provides growing companies with business-building advice grounded in marketing research findings. Sharon and her partner, Hy Mariampolski, Ph.D., operate QualiData from East Hampton, San Francisco and Park Slope. QualiData and Hamptons Creative Group often collaborate on behalf of mutual clients.

Special Tuesday Word of Mouth – September 27, 2011

Phew! The recent changes to Facebook came fast and furious. This might be the most radical overhaul of the social site since it expanded beyond the Harvard campus community.

While many in the marketing field knew changes like this were scheduled, no one outside of Facebook would have predicted such a monumental shift all at once.

In fact, the biggest change is scheduled to start appearing for some on Thursday, September 29th, with the rollout of Facebook’s new “Timeline” now in beta. In addition to the new “Ticker,” Wall feed, verb options, 3rd party application protocols, and privacy setting options, Facebook has adjusted the rules on Business Page interactions. If there was ever a better time to have a professional provider manage your business and brand on Facebook it’s not coming to mind.

The new changes will force businesses to interact, target, and service people who may not even “Like” you on Facebook. Businesses and brands will have to be more diligent about monitoring for spam, negative comments, requests for customer service, and feedback – even the positive stuff! Furthermore, the new Facebook changes will enable more outside content to be consumed through (aka inside) the Facebook interface, making it difficult for businesses and brands to standout or drive visitors to other sites such as squeeze pages, online shopping carts, and company web sites.

It’s important to mention that these changes have been made with two intentions: 1) return Facebook to a “profile” driven site opposed to a constantly updating wall stream, and 2)encourage more 3rd party applications, which will increase the amount of data Facebook can collect from users about behaviors, trends, location, and more.

This brings about a slew of privacy concerns, but it’s nothing new. Facebook has tried to get ahead of this issue (finally) by adding more upfront sharing controls. However, these do not prevent Facebook from tracking your movement and activity on the site. The reason Facebook has made so many changes is to attempt to thwart off the growth of Google+, which is another new social media site now available to the public.

However, with less the 50 million Google+ users, Facebook is still king. The fraction of defectors away from Facebook (and there are some) is pithy compared to its remaining 700 million strong. (You may not like the government, but you haven’t left the country. Same applies to Facebook, where the cost to uproot and seek new beginnings – while abandoning your followers – is much too high.)

In summary, the Facebook changes are going to affect your business and brand whether you are a Facebook novice, elite user, or not even a member. Because so much of what goes on online happens in the space of Facebook (80% of web use in the US is for social media and blogs) it’s impossible to escape it.

The best move now is to accept its value in doing business, and in lieu of becoming an expert on the ins and outs of how it works, trust a professional to navigate your business through the Facebook landscape. You’d want a plumber to fix your pipes, a carpenter to build your deck, and a mechanic to tune your car’s motor.

Word of Mouth – August 11, 2011

Everyone wants their place in paradise it seems, especially during August when the summer season sizzles: the population swells, restaurants are packed, stores serve long lines, and roadways overflow.

Some of the most popular benefits and happenings occur in August, too, like the Hampton Classic to benefit the Southampton Hospital. The print media focuses on these noteworthy occasions with larger than normal issues and bigger print runs.

Also in these issues are lots and lots of real estate advertising – often with website and social media links because using the web and social media gives real estate agents another venue to bring ready-to-buy eyeballs to their listings.

Many agents are a solo-preneurs, working without marketing help from a big agency, and need to do something different to set themselves apart. Online and social media is definitely different for this traditional industry. These agents have contacted us because we know how to raise their profile inside and outside the Hamptons – wherever their potential buyers are.

To learn more about how your business can make the most of one of the most powerful networking platforms, sign up for our special Comprehensive Guide to LinkedIn. Don’t miss a prime opportunity to set yourself apart and grab your own little piece of paradise.

Word of Mouth – August 9, 2011

What I Did on Summer Vacation

Ok, summer is nowhere near over. But, it’s always fun to share stories – especially ones that have surprises. The first part of my story certainly came as a surprise right away. I was walking out of a local grocery store and noticed a large truck parked near my vehicle and a man standing close by, clearly waiting for someone.

It turned out he was waiting for me.

I had never met this person and it was apparent from his face he wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Well,” the man began to confess, “I backed into it with the hitch on my truck.”

Sure enough, Lady Liberty had sustained quite a thwack. This man, however, is the surprise. He had waited quite a while in that parking lot for me to come out. Not only did he apologize profusely, he gave me all the information for a great local auto-body shop and said he’d pay for the whole repair.

The auto-body shop has been in the area for years and has remained family owned the entire time. Not only did they restore Lady Liberty’s outside damage, they took it to a car wash to clean up the mascot’s left behind fur from earlier in the day! The shop also tuned my radio to 88.3 WPPB-FM – my favorite AND their favorite station. (Hamptons Creative Group coincidently underwrote WPPB’s Facebook page, which led to a great conversation on how even old, established local businesses are using Facebook and other social networking sites to reach customers.)

We typically hear stories of coming out to the parking lot to find damages with no one taking responsibility and auto-body shops making a bad condition worse. Responsibility and going a step beyond make quite an impression.

It’s important to make those impressions both in the physical world and in virtual settings such an your online presence. It’s the best way to turn surprises into success stories.

Word of Mouth – July 21, 2011

David White Webinar Preview

We’re two weeks into our Conversations with the Experts webinars series about how to turn real word of mouth experiences into client and relationship building actions. Learn more about this week’s Conversation here.

Next Thursday, we wrap up the series with David White, founder and CEO of Weboptimiser, as he shares how to chisel on-line conversations into revenue. David’s a former rocket scientist who has been successfully providing online and digital marketing services since 1996.

He’s at the forefront of the Internet marketing industry and social media optimization, working with big corporations to one-man bands. We’re excited to share with you why Search Engine Optimization matters to your online efforts and how using SEO can draw new, high value customers to your business.

Don’t forget that if you can’t be on the live webinar, or you miss one of the three weeks, you still have access to ALL the recorded sessions. Even if you’ve missed the first two sessions, there’s no excuse not to register now by calling us at 631-283-2776 or visiting www.hamptonscreative.com.